Mick and I are taking a trip to England next week and whilst it is an opportunity to see his family, for me it is also going to be a research trip.
I have been to London many times, and this made choosing the city for my setting much less intimidating. Now that the novel is written, I have a pretty good idea of most of the locations in the book. The purpose of my research in London will be mostly to take photos, soak up some atmosphere (and hopefully some inspiration), and make sure that my chosen locations make sense.
Somerset House, the Strand, London
This was the queen's residence during the time I'm writing about.
Today is the first day I started planning, and I began by writing up a rough list of locations I need to visit:
Royal Exchange
Primrose Hill
Somerset House
Tower of London
Westminster Abby
Banqueting House
St Martins-in-the-Fields
There will, of course, be many more. I've already been to many of these locations, but this time I will return with my novel in mind. For example, the Tower of London houses the crown jewels, and I want to look at the items made for Charles II's coronation in 1661 because one of my characters was apprentice to the goldsmith who made them.
